1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a system and method for gigabit media independence interface (GMII)-to-system packet interface level 3 (SPI-3) interface translation and, more particularly, to a system and method for interface translation between a system packet interface level 3 (SPI-3), which defines an interface between a physical device (PHY device) and a link layer device, and a gigabit media independence interface (GMII), which defines an interface between a media access control (MAC) portion of a gigabit Ethernet and a physical device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various kinds of communication protocols and interfaces are defined in communication and network systems. Interface matching is needed to enable communication with different protocols and interfaces because different interfaces are defined for different layers.
In particular, an SPI-3 interface mechanism defines a communication mechanism between a link layer device and a physical device (PHY device), and a gigabit media independent interface (GMII) mechanism defines an interface which connects a MAC portion and a physical device (PHY device) in a gigabit Ethernet. Accordingly, communication between a device with the SPI-3 interface mechanism and a device with the GMII interface mechanism requires matching of different protocols and interfaces.